George Birch is the epitome of true blue Aussie grit.
He's been through the hard blows within the cattle industry, but as he was brought up to do - he stuck it out, and in turn, reaped the rewards of his dedication.
"I've always enjoyed it. I was contract mustering and droving before I got married," he said.
"I've been through that 1974 depression in cattle when we first bought a place when we went to the Territory. I know all the hard knocks.
"I didn't know much else but to (stick it out)."
Born in Nanango 88 years ago, Mr Birch grew up on a mixed farm, spending most of his younger days milking cows for the dairy - which he admittedly "hated".
"I helped the parents fencing and doing work for neighbours and a little bit of casual droving, then bigger trips as I got older," he said.
After marrying his wife Valerie in 1961, he moved to Brisbane where he worked for Redbank Meatworks as a cattle buyer.
After eight years, he transferred to Murgon and then to Darwin, where he worked at a grazing abattoir. It was the "highlight" of his buying career.
"It was very interesting work. Everything was really starting to open up in Darwin then. It was different to what it is these days. It was very much a frontier town in those days," he said.
Mr Birch recalled times in the wet season, when cattle stores mostly relied on stayed ships, where ships brought in supplies from Perth.
"Occasionally the ships would half unload and half load, and we had to keep enough supplied stores in the storm room to see us through. We could run out," he said.
"There were a lot of cattle coming from the barge from Kalumburu, Bathurst and Melville Island. We used to unload the cattle at the old East Arm.
"We started off trying to walk them to Boolaroo where we could get road trains in to get them out, but the wet would come in before we could get across those rivers and the trucks used to get bogged...We had 280 bullocks on this little old barge and the tide ran out and there they sat until the tide ran (back in)."
That was in 1970, where a majority of the cattle came from 14 stud stations from western grazing.
"You had to have that consistent supply of cattle to keep us going...Darwin was out on a limb with bugger all cattle. From Katherine...not a lot of cattle, all scrub cattle," he said.
"That was sort of the young part of my life. Then we came back here (in 1974). The kids were starting to grow up and we wanted them to have a better education.
Finished with moving around, the family brought up a number of smaller properties, with Mr Birch moving into commission buying for a couple of meat works in Tenterfield, NSW until they closed in 1982.
While he still dabbles in buying, Mr Birch has kept an eye on the cattle market, and believes there are various reasons for last year's unpredictable market.
"Quite honestly, supply and demand are the main factor...The whole fact of the matter, most graziers might not agree, the market got far too dear and there certainly had to be a correction in it," he said.
"The correction might have been far too cheap too. Hopefully it will level itself out to a sensible thing for everything to survive.
"A big problem with the meatworks last year, what I could see was suitable and available labour. They all had their problems, I honestly don't know why. The conditions in meat works...have always been fairly liberal - everyone is well paid...(but) accommodation is a bit of a problem.
"Land values...got very expensive. I don't know how young people ever buy liveable land."
Mr Birch's eldest daughter Margaret works in the hospital system, and her husband Chris Donnelly runs a modern butcher shop called 'Top of the Range'.
His second daughter and school teacher, Kerry McIntyre, lives at Mt Tyson with her husband Ben on their grain property.
Bruce Birch, George's son, as well as his wife Prue Birch own the original family property at Tenterfield, NSW.
"(Dad) still runs his own cattle as well. He is a mentor to numerous young people in the cattle industry. Bloody legend," Kerry McIntyre said.
Mr Birch has six grandchildren, and welcomed his first great grandchildren on New Years Day - born in London.
His secret to continuing to thrive at 88?
"Just keep involved, keep doing what you can, keep active - is about the best advice I can give anyone," he said.
"Don't sit on the veranda waiting to die."
